The hex at the Hangar has been broken!
The Aviators reclaimed their home ice at Floyd Bennett Field in stunning fashion last weekend thanks to back-to-back victories that featured back-to-back hat tricks.
Whatever was keeping Brooklyn from winning at the Aviators Sports and Events Center was killed, dismembered and buried in the weeds behind Floyd Bennett Field on Saturday when they filleted the Cape Cod Bluefins 5-3.
Center and fan-favorite Jesse Felten did most of the fricasseeing on Friday, scoring three of the five goals — and ending a curse that cooled his sticking career: Felten had only scored once in three and a half weeks of regulation play before the fated match up with the Fish.
“I had a slow start this season, but things are starting to pick up,” Felten explained. “Coach [Rob] Miller paired me up with two great players (right wingers Vladimir Nikiforvov and Chris Ferazzoli), so things are going to get better.”
Miller called hat tricks “rare” for Brooklyn.
“We don’t usually have high-scoring games, and we don’t have that level of consistency,” he said.
That just made the three-peat repeat by center Andrew Owsiak even more fun to watch. Owsiak followed Felten’s skate grooves on Saturday, netting three of Brooklyn’ goals scored in a 9–3 thrashing of the Danville Dashers.
Owsiak scored twice with less than a minute to go in the first period, then netted his third goal late in the second.
And Felten wasn’t about to be outdone: he scored twice in the second period as the Aviators secured an astounding seven point lead against Danville — making the Dashers look like they were standing still.
As they entered the fifth week of the season, the Aviators have played six games at the Aviator Sports and Events Center — known to true fans (and our readers) as the Hangar — but didn’t pull out a single win until last weekend.
Saturday’s 9 goals was a season high for the Aviators, but the Dashers weren’t much of a challenge: the Federal Hockey League expansion team from Illinois hasn’t won a single game.
It also didn’t do much for Brooklyn’s standings: with their five wins, three losses and three loses in overtime, the Aviators are in fourth place, tied with the hated Akwesasne Warriors, the team that stole the cherished Commissioner’s Cup from them during last year’s playoffs.
The Brooklyn Aviators will be back home to play the 1,000 Island Privateers at Aviator Sports [3159 Flatbush Ave. in Floyd Bennett Field in Marine Park, (718) 758-7580] on Nov. 23 at 7:35 pm. Tickets $12 ($10 for seniors and children under 14). For information visit www.brooklynaviators.com.
Reach reporter Thomas Tracy at ttracy@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-2525.
